Sweetfern, Comptonia peregrina, is neither sweet nor a fern, but is one of my favorite plants. It looks like something the dinosaurs would have walked through, and smells like all the warmest, spiciest, most magical aromas of imagination.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

When Piper comes along on a trip to the feed store, we usually stop midway at a public walking trail that makes a loop through the fields of a working farm. Here Piper must stay on lead, but on a sunny day, perhaps 90F with high humidity, a walk on a lead is not as boring as it might sound.

It's a very different habitat from Piper's usual woodsy ramble. Lots of open field, hedgerows, and long-distance views.

And haze, when it's humid.

We see many plants and birds that thrive in open conditions, quite different from what we see at home. I don't know what kind of butterfly is enjoying the milkweed, but isn't it lovely?

Note the two strands of electric fence - another very good reason for Piper to be on lead!

The farmland is nearly all pasture and hayfields, but this little knoll has a few trees that provide very welcome shade.

These lilies tell the story of a former home site. One sees them all over New England, often in small gaps in the forest, along abandoned cart roads, or in an area where there is no other sign of human habitation, past or present.

Like a cheerful greeting from the past.

~~~

Even though it was all walking, no running, Piper doesn't look too disappointed, does she? She took our sedate constitutional in typical happy-go-lucky style.

So, when we continued on to the feed store I invited Piper to come inside with me and choose her own treat from the bin. It was crunch, crunch, crunch, all the way home.

There are a few additional chores in the mornings lately, which is slowing me down. But tomorrow I will try to get everything done early, so we can get into the woods for our more typical mayhem:

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